Fans still have a few weeks to go before Bonnaroo is expected to drop the 2024 lineup in all of its glory, so in the meantime, Barry and Lord Taco from The What Podcast decided to take a boots-on-the-ground view of their favorite festival. They invite friend of the show Cassie to discuss everything from how the event has changed over time to the experience of being on The Farm, and more.
Having attended Bonnaroo for nearly a decade (frequently by herself), Cassie argues that the lineup is only a small part of what makes the event so special. As evidenced by her friendship with The What crew, it's more about the people!
Listen to The What Podcast here or watch it via YouTube. While you're at it, go ahead and like, review, and subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Topic: Bonnaroo
Guest: Cassie Wanamaker
All right.
It's late December.
It's almost Christmas.
Everybody's thinking about Christmas, but really, let's be honest.
Everybody's thinking about Bonnaroo.
If you're listening to this, you're thinking about Bonnaroo.
We are, right?
Yeah.
You're probably just ready for Christmas to be over with, so then it's the new year
and the lineup.
That's exactly right.
That's what we're all thinking about is that sometime in the next several days, we're going
to get the lineup.
And Russ, an educated guess tells me it's going to be sometime around the 10th, somewhere
in that area.
It seems like it's earlier and earlier, but I actually looked and in 2020, it dropped
on January 7th.
It's going to be around next couple of weeks.
Yeah.
Careful talking about comparing anything to 2020.
We don't want to get some bad vibes.
Fair enough, but my point is that in some ways, it seems like that's really early, but
I don't think it is.
And in part because other festivals have announced theirs already.
Shaky Eats, for example, as we mentioned before, great lineup.
And business-wise, we've sort of talked about it.
We think you don't want to wait too long because you're trying to sell tickets.
And so you don't want the competition to get out there and outsell you when you're trying
to sell your own tickets.
So we expect that very soon.
Exactly.
And a lot of people wait until the lineup to buy their tickets.
A lot of people say, well, I don't want to buy a ticket until I know who's going.
Obviously, we're not that way.
No, we're not.
And we have a guest today.
What's she say?
She's been to almost 10.
And so isn't it amazing how many people we talk to that say, I don't really care about
the lineup.
It's about the event and all.
That truly is amazing to me.
Yeah, that's a very common thread with a lot of people that we talked to that have been
going a long time.
And eventually, you know, yeah, the lineup probably might get you interested, but eventually
the reason you come back is not the music.
I mean, it's definitely a plus.
Yeah.
I mean, there can be really bad lineups and there can be maybe somebody on a lineup that
will cause whatever percentage of people to say, that's my favorite band ever going or
my favorite act.
And we certainly have heard, you know, there's always people who say, oh, it's terrible.
You know, there's always going to be those guys.
But it's amazing.
And the number of people and we talked to Cassie here in a little bit, our guest this
week and she's like, I don't, you know, I don't care.
You know, I go for the event.
I love it.
It's the only time she goes to something like this, just like us.
Well, you've gone to more, but, you know, camping, the full week long camping.
Yeah, this is the only one I'll go for a week.
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
So I do want to say and give a shout out to our buddies over at RooHamm.
I thought they had a great episode they put out almost 10 days ago or so, two weeks ago.
If you're at all into the rumor and who's coming and who you'd like to see, I thought
they did a great job.
They hit Michael and Jake and Parker.
And you know, I always joke Parker and Reed, both of them.
They did a really, really good job, took a deep dive in and brought up some other questions
and topics and stuff that stuff that we've gotten into.
But one of them, I did want to sort of mention, if you've gone to the website, the Bonnaroo.com
website, you'll notice a link to Manchester hotels.
I don't know if you noticed that.
No, sir.
If you heard them talking about it.
But you know, the question was sort of what's that about?
Because Bonnaroo is a camping experience, right?
That's you and I have said, I've never left the farm once I'm in, I'm in, I don't leave.
Yeah.
And yeah, the whole idea of like leaving to go to the Walmart or to the to the holiday
end to use the bathroom or whatever to me kind of breaks the spell.
I've just I've just never, never done it.
And I've certainly never done the drive back and forth to Chattanooga, though I thought
about it last year and actually thought I was going to have to because of a change in
jobs.
Didn't want to because like I said, it kind of breaks the spell.
But it's interesting to me to see Bonnaroo actually putting a link to the hotels in Manchester
and even some of the sites.
And it kind of asks, you know, why do you think they did that?
My guess is it's politics.
You know, we've talked about on here before the city and the county.
There been a little discussion, shall we say, you know, is this worth it?
Are we are we giving them too much?
Are we asking enough?
You know, there was there was an issue a couple of years ago.
I'll just be honest where the festival was kind of concerned that the hotels were price
gouging and it was going to maybe be an issue.
So is this is this a compromise?
You never know.
Yeah.
And of course, Barry, you know, with these small towns out here in the south, I mean,
there's a lot of, you know, good old boys running these things.
And, you know, there's a good chance that probably somebody on the city council is either
owns a hotel or is friends with someone who owns a hotel and probably made a deal like
that.
Sure.
Sure.
Or legitimately raised the question, are we giving away the farm?
Pardon the pun.
You know, are we giving away too much?
And maybe this is a compromise.
I'm not trying to be at all ugly about it.
I think it makes some sense.
You know, Manchester and Coffee County don't have a lot going on other than this big.
I mean, you're talking about 80 to 90,000 people that come to a small town and a 700
acre farm for three weeks.
You know, the bulk of it is one week, but the staff and all that are there for a couple
of weeks.
They're out there constructing, you know, everything.
And yeah, doesn't Manchester become like the fifth largest city in Tennessee that weekend?
Something like that.
So, you know, I don't have a problem with it.
It's interesting to note that maybe this is the compromise because I do know there was
some serious talks going on a couple of years ago.
And so maybe this is the compromise and, you know, I don't have a problem with it.
The other side of it is not everybody wants to sleep in a tent, even a fancy yurt, you
know, that's been set up.
Some people want to stay in a hotel.
Sure.
Some people just won't camp no matter what.
And they would probably rather not go if that's their only choice.
So yeah, there's probably going to be a lot of people that'll choose that option.
That's right.
And, you know, they've tried to do that with including Nashville a little bit with Chattanooga
with, you know, the car service shuttles.
So you know, maybe that is this is just more of the same.
So you know, it's just worth it.
It's just interesting.
It's again, it's part of the evolution of this festival.
It is.
You've done it.
I've been going since the first year.
You've been going since 2018 and we definitely have seen every year there are, you know,
pretty significant changes.
And that's what we like.
We like the sausage making.
Yeah, we get into the we love the behind the scenes stuff and you know, the background
processes and how all this evolves and yeah, the changes from year to year.
Yeah, even in just really the short time that I've been going, it's changed a lot since
2018.
It's changed tremendously.
The camping, the a la carte and we talk a little bit with Cassie about that.
You know, and we'll probably get into that more when we get some of the guys on from
C3 to talk about how that went.
You know, we talk about the pricing and you know, it used to be you bought a ticket and
you drove your car and you went with your buddies and you put up a canopy and you camp.
And now there are so many different options RV, yurts, you know, it's incredible.
And so that's just I think it's smart on their part to figure they're trying to figure out
a way that you know, nearly everybody can go.
Yeah, I think they're really following the customer and you know, trying to give as many
options as possible.
I think so too.
And I think again, I'm not trying to be a conspiracy theorist guy about the hotels,
but I do think it's somewhat the politics, but I also think it's another option, you
know, for somebody.
Yeah, wouldn't, wouldn't be me.
No, it wouldn't be me.
Okay.
All right, so our guest today is Cassie.
She's somebody we know because she's local, but that's not really why she's our guest.
She's our guest because she's been going for a decade basically.
And she's just, you know, another person who loves this festival and goes by herself, which
I find interesting has gone with a lot of friends.
So we'll probably focus on, you know, people like her who love this festival or any kind
of festival and why they go and how they go and all those sorts of things.
So yeah, I love hearing those stories.
Yeah.
Here's our interview with Cassie.
We have a special guest today as we usually always do.
Cassie Wanamaker is with us.
Cassie, thank you for joining us.
Thank you so much for having me.
We were talking a little bit off air and I had to stop, stop her because a lot of times
the best stuff happens when you're not recording.
I had to stop.
Yeah.
We were talking about the fact that we're six months or less from this event that we
all know and love is Bonnaroo.
That's why we're here to talk about it.
Cassie, Russ, you know, you and I talk about this every week.
That's why we started this show, what 2018, because we realized we were talking about
this event way more than we should have year round and we figured out that probably a lot
of other people were as well.
And so while we're in the middle of rumor season and we're waiting for the big news,
which will be the lineup, we'll get into that here in a minute.
You know, there's still plenty to talk about.
And what we love doing is sort of diving deep into how people enjoy this festival because
again, as we've learned, it's about way more than just who's playing and what show you've
seen or going to see.
And so anyway, that's why Cassie is here.
She is, she's been, we're going to talk about that.
We're going to talk about what it is you look for, why you go, how you go.
And honestly, I think that's kind of what we're probably going to do, Russ, for the
next couple of episodes and, you know, until there's news from the festival itself.
But that's, I mean, I'm interested, right?
It's become, it's become so much more than just the lineup, right?
It has.
Yeah.
Like you said, I almost don't care who's playing.
That's like the least important part.
We keep hearing that all the time.
And for regular listeners and viewers, Brad, as we've said, has taken a break.
He'll be back.
Don't know when, not going to pin him down.
He's taken a break, but there's still plenty to talk about.
So if you're looking at the screen and saying, where's, you know, the guy in the shadow and
the really bad lighting, he's not here, but he'll be back.
All right.
So let's do this.
Cassie introduce yourself a little bit, if you don't mind.
Obviously you're wearing a great sweatshirt.
Thanks.
Yeah, that's awesome.
So you're a fan.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
When did you start and all that kind of stuff?
Okay.
Well, my name is Cassie Wanamaker.
I live and work in Chattanooga.
I've been in Chattanooga since, I guess, 2020.
So coming up on four years.
And then I've been to Bonnaroo eight times.
This will be my ninth year.
I've went consecutively from 2014 till now.
And I guess it would have been like 11 years at this point if the pandemic didn't happen.
Yeah.
But yeah, so eight years.
And it's truly my favorite thing ever.
I talk about it constantly, think about it all day, every day.
It gets to me through life.
Isn't that crazy?
Yes.
You laugh when you say that, but you are not alone.
There are so many of us that we hear from and you can go on Reddit and wherever.
But so many people say, oh, my friends, all my coworkers are so sick of hearing me talk
about it.
But it's a thing, right?
It is.
I mean, it's truly my personality trait, which I don't know if it's a good or bad thing,
but it's such a huge part of my life in such a good way.
If your friends are tired of you talking about it, it's time for new friends.
Period.
Period.
All right.
So let's go back to the beginning a little bit.
Why the first one?
Was it a...
And where were you living at the time?
And how did you get there?
Because this is the detail, because to me, it's so much about the planning.
Like right now, it's December.
We're all planning.
If you're listening to this show, we're not talking to people who have no clue about it,
right?
We're talking to people who love this event.
So we're all planning.
We're all wondering about the lineup.
We're all wondering, do I take this sleeping bag or that sleeping bag or how did I do it
better than I did before?
So tell us about that first one.
Okay.
Well, the first one was in 2014.
Graduated college in 2014.
So just about a month prior to that.
And I asked for a ticket for my graduation present from my family and they bought it
for me.
Thank goodness.
And then I went with a really good friend from college.
She and I went together and then one of her really good friends.
So there was three of us.
She had been, I think the year prior, so she had like a little bit of experience.
So she basically just told me what all to do, what all to pack, all that good stuff.
And then funny enough, we didn't even pack a canopy though.
It's a classic rookie mistake.
Yeah.
So we're just out here.
We're just out here.
I think we got in on, I want to say Wednesday night back when you could come and you didn't
have to have your camping pass was at an extra cost.
So it was kind of just like free rain.
You could bring however many cars you wanted.
So I remember correctly, I think we brought three cars to make our campsite bigger, but
we didn't even have a canopy.
So like, what was the point?
But anyway, no canopy, but for whatever reason, I still fell in love with it.
Even though the sun beat me up, the walking beat me up.
But it was just nice to see, you know, so many different kinds of people coming together
and like the genuine happiness that is at the farm.
So that's really what brought me back.
All right.
So after 2014, it was college.
College was the East Tennessee state.
So you didn't come, you didn't come far.
All right.
No.
And had you been to festivals before?
That was my first festival ever.
Were you a camper?
I was.
Yep.
We camped in, I want to say pod two.
No, no, no, no.
Beyond Bonnaroo.
Oh, oh, oh, yes.
Yeah, I camped growing up.
I do enjoy camping.
All right.
So again, I'm just because there's so many people that, you know, I don't camp.
I don't camp.
I mean, this Bonnaroo is the only time that I'm in a tent or in a sleeping bag or anything
similar.
Russ, he lives in the bus.
That's all he does.
I don't consider that real camping.
You know, it's not tent camping.
It's pretty sweet when he's got set up.
So all right.
Just wanted to establish that.
And so, okay.
Were you guys, other than the shade, the canopy, did you get it right pretty much or was it
the, I'm trying to remember, 04 weather was still hot.
Very, very hot, right?
It didn't really start cooling down till what?
17, 18 at night.
I mean, I remember those early years at three o'clock in the morning was just as hot as
noon.
I don't know what's happened.
We'll let the weather people and the conspiracy guys, excuse me, figure that out.
But anyway, it was hot.
So all right.
What was it again?
Was it the lineup?
Was it, you just had a good time with your friends and are you still coming with those
same friends or is it you're by yourself?
So what's, how has it evolved?
I think it was a mix of the lineup and just being there with friends and just meeting
so many like-minded people and people from all over.
That's really what brought me back and the sense of community that is Bonnaroo.
We went to, I think it was the next, we went to 2015 together, but we have not been back
together.
I've had various like brew crews that I went with here and there, some of the same overlap
of people.
But this past year I actually went by myself for the first time and that was like my favorite
thing I've ever done.
Okay.
So, all right.
So that's, so let's talk about that.
How has your camping experience changed?
Because Bonnaroo has changed and we're going to talk about that in the coming weeks with
some folks from C3 and a lot of other people, but that's evolution has sort of been become
the theme, I think.
Right, Russ?
Because in this show we've talked about not only our evolution, but the festivals.
It's gone from a jam band to whatever you want to call it, but the EDM now and in the
last couple of years, the big focus has been on the camping experience and how they offered
it.
So how has it changed for you?
Obviously you now bring shade.
Yeah.
Shade is a must, yes.
All kinds of shade.
Even I even bring an umbrella these days.
I'm like, I cannot be out in the sun.
But my camping experience has definitely evolved.
I will say I've done different, like I've done GA and then I've done RV and then camping.
I've actually driven back and forth to Chattanooga one year.
Didn't even stay the night at Bonnaroo.
And then this past year I did single person camping in the beyond.
So that was one of those community camps.
I think they used to call it She-Roo, but it's back there with like Soberoo, the family
camping and then the beyond.
So I really like that area.
It's super quiet and can actually get some sleep and some peace back there when you want
to.
But my camping has evolved.
Like I said, didn't bring a canopy back in the day, but now like comfort is the most
important thing.
So my favorite thing to do is I have a Jeep Patriot.
So what I'll do is just raise the back hatch and make like a bring a like a mattress topper,
I guess is what you would call it and put it in the back of my Jeep and just it's like
a little bed back there and I keep it really well ventilated.
And then I also bring a cot in case like I get too hot back there.
I can just lay under my canopy.
And then I will say I kind of found a life hack last year.
I bought a bunch of blackout curtains from the thrift store and put those all around
my canopy and clipped them together with those binder clips and it was it was pretty cool
in there.
It was not super hot in there.
I will say so I've definitely improved with the shade and stuff like that.
Have you done group or do you hook up with a lot of people you like going by yourself?
I haven't done group but I did venture over there this year to hang out with some people.
I really enjoyed going by myself because like I said, I have so many like different groups
of people that are all over the farm that I like to go visit but I like have a mission
to do so many things.
I like being by myself so that I can just you know go around and do it.
Yeah, that's kind of you in it was kind of a loner.
That's me especially since I get there on Tuesday.
Yeah, there's so many pictures.
I'm sure he'll post one now but you know the his bus all by itself in the farm.
I love that.
Yeah, and I want to I mean seriously point that out.
A lot of people do come by themselves and there's a reason we've sat on here many many
times you don't want to come with somebody who doesn't want to be there.
It's not a halfway thing.
It's not I'll come and see if I like it kind of event.
Right?
Yeah, it is once you're there you're there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I think I've heard that somewhere before.
Once you're there there's nothing else to do but go have a good time.
So do you feel like that last year when you went by yourself was sort of the evolution
that you were that you want or did you I mean you went with people with friends.
That's fun too.
It's a lot of fun to be with people like minded people.
So is that what has been your favorite year and why?
Okay, well I say this every year is my favorite year.
It just keeps getting better every year.
It's like you know something tops the year before but 2019 was probably my favorite year
besides 2023.
But 2019 me and my best friend went just us two we had a cute little campsite just right
behind Shakedown Street.
So it was a really good easy walk and we were close to like vendors and stuff like that.
So it was awesome.
And then met some of my really good friends that I'm still very close to in 2019.
And I know that was the year of the squarch.
But I know most people have a bone to pick with the squarch but I thought it was really
cute.
So I did enjoy that.
Of course I love the arch and everything but it's like she went away but the squarch is
kind of cute anyway.
But 2019 just the vibes were good there with my best friend.
It was just us two didn't have to worry about anyone else.
Yeah, it was good.
All right.
So who are you hoping that will be on this year's lineup?
And how much do you focus on lineup?
I really do not focus on the lineup.
To me, Bonnaroo is community and the music is just our entertainment really.
But I will say I have some predictions or some people that I like to see.
Tame and Paul is my number one.
I hope that they are Saturday night at the Wood.
I will say that.
And then this may be an unpopular opinion but I really hope NSYNC is there.
Is that a possibility?
I haven't heard any reason why not.
Okay.
But I mean it's not something I focus on a whole lot to be honest.
I'm with you.
Yeah.
Well, I want to see Pretty Lights there, Ludacris, Dave Matthews Band, Crumbin, Skrillex, Limp
Biscuit, Dylan Francis.
Those are just a few.
When do you like last year, do you see a lot of shows or do you end up at camp?
I mean you were by yourself a little but you said you have friends that you go see and
that's the other sort of thing is it seems like even more and more where there's so much
going on.
How many shows are we actually seeing type of thing which is so weird.
I mean really think about it.
It's a music festival and the more and more we talk to people who are regulars, they see
a lot of shows but it's not like every show.
You know what I mean?
Yeah I'm definitely not in there at 1 p.m. I'll tell you that.
I usually am at the campsite during the day at either mine or one of my friends camps
and then I'll go in around sunset every day usually and then it just depends on what time
I get tired is when I go back to bed.
Yeah where are you at 1 a.m.?
Usually on Friday and Saturday I'm up but on Thursday I just usually go to bed at midnight
just to get some sleep.
See that's a pro tip right there.
We keep saying it and Russ just blows right by it.
I ignore it every year.
Well he stayed up long enough to see DJ Diesel which was a huge regret of mine.
But on Thursday night I usually try to go to bed and then Friday and Saturday I'm usually
up at 1.
Alright so you said earlier that you had a friend who had gone the year before and was
able to offer you some tips.
So what are the tips you tell your friends now the first timers?
What's your best pro tips?
Obviously a canopy.
Canopy.
I told the story many times.
My first year I had an umbrella which just happened to be in a truck and it was like
a sundial.
We just kept moving.
As the sun moved we moved.
It was horrible.
Yeah.
So it was like one of those that you stick on to like a table?
I had a golf umbrella so it was pretty big.
Yes.
I had a 2x3 piece of wood, some cheap plastic sawhorses that just randomly were in the back
of my truck.
So we had a table and then I used the umbrella and a bungee cord to hold it in place and
me and the photographer from the paper sat in those chairs and we followed the shade.
It was awful.
You think I'm kidding?
We were glad to have that.
So when you say canopy I get it.
Yeah.
Okay.
So again your tips.
Okay.
For a first timer, canopy is number one and then you must bring either tapestries or bed
sheets or blankets or like I did last year blackout curtains.
Those are essential to surviving this thing.
You have to bring those, clip them all the way around your whole canopy and clip them
together with those binder clips or you can use zip ties, either one.
So that is literally number one.
Obviously bring more water than you ever need.
I always recommend putting a case in your freezer before, like a week before and then
pulling them out the day of and then lining the bottom of your cooler with those and then
putting your food on top of it and then by the end of the weekend you'll have good cold
water still.
That's my number one.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, that way your food doesn't get soggy and you have cold water to drink.
Yep.
Yes, yes.
And then I always bring, I always try to buy one of those like really big battery powered
fans from Walmart.
They take like 60 batteries and I just keep that on me at all times if I'm at the campsite
and then always have one of those hand fans in your backpack and then always wear a hat
like a big brimmed hat.
I at least try to do that during the day if I'm out.
And then one of my biggest now that I've just kind of started doing the last two years,
the biggest life hack to me is do not drink alcohol if at all possible.
Just because it makes you so tired and so when you're hungover the next day it's like
oh my gosh, I don't want to be here.
Russ just blacked out I think.
I know, I know.
This is just a couple, this is just the past two years since I've quit drinking that I've
like discovered how Bonnaroo can just be elevated if you're not drinking but obviously it's
your own choice.
But if you don't drink, I noticed I'm just, I feel a lot better throughout the weekend.
Not as tired, not as angry at life, not as like mad that we're out here in the 100 degree
sun.
That's a good point.
Yeah, because Barry, I think you and I were the only ones who weren't sober the whole
weekend, our whole camp pretty much.
Back at camp not buttered, right?
Yeah.
No, I mean sober is a strong word.
I never get not sober.
I never get blasted at Bonnaroo because it's miserable.
And I've said this since we've been doing this show, you know whenever I tell people
who don't go that I go to Bonnaroo they're like oh it must be a you know a drunken drug
fest whatever.
I'm like not for me because the last thing I want to be is hungover at 630 in the morning
when that sun comes up and I got to go find a porta potty.
But I do enjoy a beer or a drink but we said Russ to your point this past year especially
so many people the sober was a theme, just put it that way, not just in our camp.
You know won't name names but you and I were probably the only ones as you said you know
having a beer.
So six, five of our regular camp nut butter people have decided to you know go sober in
their lives and can and happy happy for them and but we also had several people come up
one of our camp mates and said I can't believe how many people I've run into who have said
this is my first Bonnaroo sober.
So is definitely a thing.
So you know good to them.
I made a joke earlier and I don't mean to make light of it because that is a that is
a big decision but to your point and we laughed about it earlier they're going hard on Tuesday
or Wednesday or whatever.
Yeah don't do that.
Please don't do that.
The inclination is because you know you're it's a party you're there you depending you've
spent X number of hours in the vehicle and you get out and you want to hit it hard.
It makes for a long miserable weekend so we can't stress that enough.
How about Cassie what sort of tickets are you buying this year and I'm asking because
Bonnaroo made a huge change last year with their camping ticketing a la carte you know
whatever you want to call it system.
How did that impact you or did it and how last year and how is it impacting you this
year.
Well I always I think I've always done GA camping so I'm going to do that again or
GA ticket and then I bought my preferred camping or whatever you want to call it for the beyond
already about that.
I haven't bought a ticket yet an actual ticket.
So it is only affected me in the way that this beyond camping pass was like 40 more
dollars than it was last year.
But besides that it hasn't affected me.
I noticed that they did tears on the camping passes now so I thought that was different.
Yeah that's what I'm asking about.
I've never I've never done it that way so I don't know is it good bad you like it you
don't like it do you like being able to pick and choose or does it feel like one of the
things I've always said about Bonnaroo is it never has felt like they had their hand
in my pocket.
You know what I mean they weren't trying to get a dime here and a nickel there.
Does that does this feel like that or not feel like that.
I don't know.
I think it does feel like that but I'm okay with it.
Yeah I'm going to go regardless.
Well I think that's what they've discovered right.
I mean Russ we've talked about that right.
I mean some people can afford you look at some of these prices four thousand dollars
for the VIP or whatever and you know my my first reaction is are you kidding.
But some people have that and don't mind and are willing to spend it obviously or they
wouldn't do it.
Yeah the big jump it seems was the area 931 which is you know where we used to camp and
then until they kicked us out they figured out they could sell that space.
Last year I think it was you know around five hundred dollars to camp back there and this
year it went up to a thousand so I mean it doubled in price and it doesn't seem like
people are deterred.
You know it seems like if you're back there you know you know how much premium that space
is and you'll pay almost any price.
Yeah I think we're going to have some folks on in the coming weeks to talk about the details
of all that but I'm not a business major I'm not good at it but it seems to me like it's
a it's a classic study in supply and demand and I really can't wait to see how it works
out.
You know I've always said they know what they're doing and like you said somebody's willing
to pay it and if it helps keep the GA ticket price down you know what do I care.
I mean good so yeah all right yeah do did you are you trying to convince any of your
friends to go are you going by yourself again.
I'm going to camp alone I'm going to go by myself but like I said we'll still be hanging
out with people in the other camps but no I don't think I've made most of my friends
go at least once.
That's so funny when you tell people you go and then you say and I go by myself I can't
by myself how do they react.
Most people are just like I can never do that by myself and I'm like well I'm an only child
I live alone I've been I've always been okay with loneliness but it's so anyway it's I
like it because I can like get away so like you know I can go back to my own private little
campsite it's like not in the middle of a party campsite or like everyone's up 24 7
just like being loud and music it's like okay I'm almost 10 years into this I like to actually
sleep some and like have some peace at times.
Isn't that funny and that's part of what I want to we're going to probably focus on Russ
the next couple of weeks is just how everybody's experience is different.
You know some people would they want the 24 7 party thing some people like you I'm more
like you I need my quiet time and yeah and to be able and I mean when Russ and I are
there how many shows have we seen together.
Have we seen any I'm not sure that we've seen one together honestly now that I think about
it I don't think we have either maybe one where we bumped into each other.
Well yeah yeah to your point I don't think we ever planned to see a show together and
saw it if we saw a show together it's because yeah we ran into each other.
Yeah yeah I know we did because we were in the we were in the pit for a couple of that's
right yeah it wasn't it wasn't like we walked over there together we just ran into each
other.
No it's not like we said okay at this time we're going to go meet over there and you
know yeah in fact the last time we tried to that was that Sunday last year and you and
I both got to the gate and we were like yeah it's too hot.
We didn't go any far.
Yeah I think I ended up walking back.
Yeah we stopped and got some water food and said I'm done it's too hot.
So Cassie again I think the lineup we think it's going to drop somewhere in the next two
weeks probably three weeks rather somewhere around the 10th.
I was looking 2020 it dropped January 7th so that's typical is this how you know do
you wake up that morning and start hitting refresh on your computer or are you just going
to be like you know when it happens it happens.
I wouldn't say I hit refresh but definitely the day of I always am like wow it's such
a good day today we're going to get something good later so I always am like really excited.
Yeah awesome all right anything else what am I missing Russ?
What are we missing?
We said you're from Chattanooga and so you know I talked about you know I take back roads
the entire way of course we're lucky we live that close and can avoid the interstate and
all that and I think that's how we met I think you heard that and we're asking me like exactly
which way do you take because you know that sounds pretty good.
So yeah for those that you know come from far away you know it's kind of a hard to explain
but it's you know it's so nice to wake up and just drive for an hour and be there.
Yeah we're lucky it really is we're lucky I know that's that's how I well I was listening
to the podcast I think I started listening in 2021 and then last year Russ was talking
about his back roads way from Chattanooga to the farm and I was like I want I was looking
at the maps I was like I feel like I'm not seeing what he's talking about I feel like
it's a little deeper than that so I messaged him and I was like can you give me the route
and he did and I took that route and it was there was not a single car on the road beside
me.
You hardly see anyone.
It was so good.
And it's beautiful isn't it?
Yes it is.
It's gorgeous.
Especially when you come over that mountain and you can tune in to Bonobo radio at that
time yeah then you it's like now I'm here it's begun.
What day do you go?
That's the other question especially since they've opened it up you know it used to be
everybody would get there Wednesday and they would open midnight then they'd open at 1
a.m. and now they're opening on Tuesday and Russ that's when Russ goes I just think that's
awful.
It's definitely a long time.
It's a long way back.
Definitely a long time yeah.
I for the past several years have went in on Thursday after work.
Okay.
And this past year you know got there I didn't get my campsite set up till about 9 30 p.m.
because of like the really long line to get in and all that stuff.
So I was like you know since this is the only music festival I'm doing anymore I want to
get the most out of it.
So I think I'm actually going to go on Tuesday this year just to by Sunday I'm like I probably
will be like I gotta I gotta get out of here but I'm gonna go on Tuesday.
I'm gonna go on Tuesday just to get the full get the full experience because I haven't
I haven't went before Thursday in several years.
Yeah.
All right.
Very cool.
All right.
Well thank you so much for your time and doing this and I look forward to seeing you in June
on the farm.
Yeah.
Also be there Tuesday.
He's easy to find.
Yeah.
He's the only.
Well I'll be able to find him.
It's the only bus in a field for a day and a half.
Yeah.
Well there's usually there's usually still cell phone service when you get there that
early.
Yeah at that point you still use your phone.
Yeah.
All right.
Well yeah we'll meet up.
I tried to find him last year but couldn't find him.
Just look for the hat.
Yeah.
I was looking for the little finger puppet but I just couldn't find him.
All right.
So see there you go.
Another you know everybody has their own way right.
But there's always a common thread.
We just like this and we talk about it.
That was so much fun to hear her say you know her friends and coworkers are tired of hearing
her talk about it.
How many times have we heard somebody say that.
Yeah she's not the only one.
No she's not the only one.
Not even close to the only one.
So you know I know I do it and I know you can see the eye rolls you know.
Oh here he goes again.
Yep.
You get the eye roll and then you get the oh I would never do that.
Yep and we've all got friends and family that react that way.
Right.
But just the fact that we're here in December talking about a festival that won't happen
for another six months is right pretty telling.
That's exactly right.
All right.
So coming up we'll have we've got another couple of guests similar and then sometime
in January you guys could probably guess as well as we can.
We hope to have some folks directly involved with the festival to come on and talk about
I hope the lineup but also certainly whatever changes.
What I want to talk about Russ is the changes they made last year how they work didn't work
what they liked didn't like and then what they're going to do next year.
Definitely if you go back and listen to that episode we had Corey and Brad on when they
announced these changes they came on and talked about that was a good conversation so it'd
be neat to have them back on and talk about yeah like you said what worked what didn't
and just feedback and how it's going to be next year.
Yeah.
Yeah exactly.
Looking forward to that and you know you're talking about going back.
I hope if you guys are listening to this one and you haven't listened to the Danny Clinch
interview we did last week please go back and listen.
I'm still still so excited.
It makes me want to go back and listen to the David Bruce interview again as well.
Another photographer they're both friends so anyway.
All right.
So that's it Russ man.
I don't know if we'll talk before Christmas.
I think we will.
Happy Christmas.
Happy holidays.
I hope you tell your family hello.
You too yeah.
Have Merry Chrysler and yeah we'll see.
Yeah we'll probably talk before then but who knows.
I hope Santa brings you that case of haps.
It's the only thing on my list.
All right everybody thank you and we'll talk soon.
See you.
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